As the fall chill ripples in, UK hipsters are finally rejuvenating from savoring the slew of massive summer music extravaganzas. Meanwhile, several American summer festivals proved worthy of hopping a plane and throwing down the pound this summer. Compared to Europe's manic 100,000 sweaty-bodied spitting songfests, American festivals seem like mist-filled private recitals, in which spectators do not have to be tripping to feel their music idols being close enough to touch. 

Despite furious 100-degree heat, sixty thousand hipsters flooded each day onto the lush green acres of the polo grounds in Indio, California late May to partake in Coachella Music Festival. Despite strict drinking rules and inadequate facilities for campers, the regal palm trees, surreal white-bubble dance tents for acts like LCD Soundsystem and Justice, noticeably well-rested artists (evenAmy Winehouse looked sober), and sweaty Cameron Diaz-Paris-Hilton celebrity contingent make this festival feel like a sun-speckled mirage. 

Lollapalooza, the 72-hour musical brainchild of the eccentric, boisterous Perry Farrell, lead singer of Satellite Party and former lead of Jane's Addiction, is nestled in Grant Park in the smack-center of Chicago's downtown. 2007's line-up of G. Love and Special Sauce,The Rapture, and home-grown rappers likeLupe Fiasco respectively draw raucous, yet pleasantly peaceful crowds. Though its vertical "I-shaped" lay-out made stage-hopping painful, blisters were a small price to pay to revel in Lollapalooza's commercial yet tempting line-up (headliners included Daft Punk, The Roots , Iggy Pop, and Pearl Jam) and sweet-as-pie crowd. 

One of the last festivals in the summer circuit, one expects Austin City Limits' artists and attendees to be visibly weary, hung-over and severely sun-burnt. However, Austin's die-hard musical ardor, spirited cowboy hats and super-sized beers, proved more addictive than Red Bull. Staying true to its roots, with folk and blues crooners like Robert Earl Keen and Lucinda Williams, Austin also hosted progressive international acts like the Argentinean-French electronic collectiveGotan Project and UK's adrenaline-packedBloc Party this year. Austin's own Ghostland Observatory outshone Bob Dylan, as singer Aaron Behren unleashed frenetic disco-dancehall hip gyrations as green lasers throbbed over Texas-flag totting spectators.

So, if the pound remains as strong next year, maybe more Brits will consider heading stateside for their dose of festival fever.